BRUSSELS (CN) — President Donald Trump pledged Wednesday to "bring peace to Europe once again" after European leaders extracted key commitments from him in coordinated calls ahead of Friday's high-stakes Alaska summit with Vladimir Putin.
Speaking at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Trump said he "would rate" Wednesday's calls with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "at 10, very, very friendly," while outlining plans for a potential follow-up meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy "almost immediately" after the Alaska talks.
According to Vice President JD Vance, Trump vowed to "make it our mission as an administration to bring peace to Europe once again" during a quick debrief following the conference call, which included German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the prime ministers of Italy, Poland and Finland. Vance also participated, interrupting his vacation in England's Cotswolds region to join the diplomatic push.
Trump outlined three key commitments during the calls — that "the U.S. aims to secure a ceasefire at the Alaska meeting," that "territorial issues concerning Ukraine cannot and will not be negotiated by anyone other than the Ukrainian president," and that any territorial concessions must be linked to security guarantees from "the United States and all willing allies" rather than NATO, said French President Emmanuel Macron.
Trump also outlined plans for a potential second meeting "almost immediately" after Friday's Alaska summit that would include Putin, Zelenskyy and himself to finalize any deal, though he cautioned "there may be no second meeting" if he doesn't get adequate answers from Putin.
The president warned of "very severe consequences" if Russia doesn't move toward peace but declined to specify what retaliation would entail.
European leaders gushed about the results, calling them "excellent," "very good," "great" and "exceptional." Trump responded positively on social media: "They are great people who want to see a deal done."
The frantic European push came as European capitals feared Trump might agree to Russian territorial demands without consulting NATO partners — concerns that have intensified since the president suggested Ukraine may need to cede land to secure peace.
Ukrainian leaders worry that a poorly structured peace deal could prove more damaging to their country's survival than continued fighting. Lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko, who heads Ukraine's foreign relations committee, said he expected no breakthrough from the Alaska summit and compared Trump's diplomacy to "a spectacle for the media, like the meeting with [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un."
After Wednesday's calls, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in Berlin that Trump largely supported European positions on territorial issues. Speaking alongside Zelenskyy in Berlin, Merz said Ukraine was willing to discuss territorial questions but only using current battle lines as the starting point, with no legal recognition of Russian occupation.
"The American president knows that if the United States works toward peace in Ukraine that safeguards European and Ukrainian interests, he can count on our full support," Merz said.
The leaders established several principles for future negotiations: Ukraine requires strong security assurances, any peace talks must include both American and European participation and Kyiv must have a voice in all decisions. They also said Washington and Brussels should intensify sanctions if Putin fails to show meaningful compromise during Friday's summit.
Europe flexes financial muscle
European boldness in pushing Trump stems from dramatic shifts that give Brussels significant leverage over Washington. Europe has overtaken the U.S. as Ukraine's primary military backer, providing 72 billion euros ($78 billion) compared to America's 65 billion euros, according to the Kiel Institute.
Germany announced Monday it would finance half a billion euros worth of military support for Ukraine under a new NATO scheme.
Europe also controls some 200 billion euros in frozen Russian assets essential to funding Ukraine's reconstruction — giving European leaders effective veto power over any long-term peace settlement. On Monday, the EU announced it had seized an additional 1.6 billion euros in windfall profits from those frozen assets.
